NBT Bank N A NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

NBT Bank N A NY reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 92,022 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,807 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,921.2% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,466 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 25,590 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 448,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $17,948,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares in the last quarter. Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,350,000. Finally, Kendall Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 5,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $46.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $46.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).